Formal award schemes are an excellent way to celebrate and recognise the vital contribution of technicians at Imperial to research, education and innovation. Recognition is a core pillar of the Technician Commitment, and Imperial strives to uplift technicians by using the Commitment as a framework.
This web page brings together information on internal staff recognition awards and external, national award schemes. This web page will be updated to reflect any major changes in internal awards offerings.
Categories
- Imperial Technician of the Year Award
- Imperial Staff Recognition Awards
- External Award Schemes for Technicians
- Technician Award Recipients
A formal proposal has been submitted to University Management for a new Technician of the Year award to celebrate the outstanding hard work and achievements of technicians across Imperial.
Developed by NHLI Technician Linnea Synchyshyn as part of a secondment to the Learning and Talent Team, Technician of the Year will be a pair of awards recognising individual and team achievements.
An update on this exciting new award, judging criteria and details of how to nominate should be available in December 2026.
Imperial offers a range of staff recognition awards. Details are available on the Staff Recognition Awards web page.
Of the current awards offering, the following awards have been identified as particularly relevant for technical recognition:
Outside of Imperial, there are several national award schemes aimed at recognising outstanding technical achievement. Nominations for these are open at various points throughout the year. Please see the table below for details on these:
Further information on these schemes can be viewed on the Technician Commitment website.
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Award Scheme |
Entries open |
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Tend to open in January |
|
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Institute of Physics – Technician and Apprentice categories |
Tend to open in February |
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Times Higher Education Awards - Outstanding Technician of the Year |
Tend to open in April and close in June Winners announced November |
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The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) – Apprentice and Technician categories |
Nominations CLOSE in May Winners announced in October |
|
Entries tend to open in June or July |
|
|
Tend to open in October |
|
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Royal Society of Chemistry – Technical Excellence and Apprentice categories |
Tend to open in October and close in January |
|
Biennial - next round in 2027 Entries tend to open in November and close in February Awards presented in July |
Below are profiles of some incredible technical staff who have been recipients of staff recognition awards in the past:
- Katherine Tyson – Provost’s Awards for Excellence in Animal Research (Public Engagement) 2025
- Allison Hunter - President’s Award for Excellence in Sustainability 2025
- Sasha Angell and Emma Ransome – Provost’s Award for Excellence in Health and Safety (Team Award) 2024
- Cheryl Brown - Provost’s Awards for Excellence in Animal Research (Application of 3Rs) 2024
- Department of Physics Teaching Technicians – President’s Medal for Excellence in Education 2021
- Mico Tolosa-Wright – President’s Award for Research Support Excellence 2018
Do you need support to write a nomination?
Contact the Technicians' Network
Pop along to the Technicians’ lunch and learn event specifically for Awards